Accismus⋆౨ৎ˚⟡.• Anakin Skywalker⋆౨ৎ˚⟡.•

51.

'Maker, it's freezing!'

Sol bounced from foot to foot in the snow. With her hands buried in the pockets of her light blue coat, her face was reduced to the inner corners of her eyes and the tip of her nose. The fur rim of the coat's hood made it look as if Sol's face was the size of a dessert plate, and that she was growing a white ring of facial hair around her features. Her arms struggled to bend at the puffiness of her coat and her legs were forced to stand straight by the highness of her snow boots. Sol was a star-shaped figure in the layers of white snow and she was grateful to know that Hoth was a mostly uninhabited planet.

'The base will be ready soon, ma'am. We need to put the scanners in, and then we can settle for the evening,' Captain Des informed from beside the Jedi. Glad in his own white winter gear, Des oversaw the installation of their temporary base.

Unlike other missions on livable planets, the party would need to create a place for them to sleep and operate out of the harsh cold. With frequent snowstorms, a camp of flimsy tents would be useless. So, the 336th division got to work on finding a cave which could hold an operating room, sleeping quarters and a place for the ships to be held for the duration of their stay. With the help of Sol and Obi-wan's lightsabers for the melting of stubborn ice, the party would soon be able to take shelter out of the cold winds.

'Arfour, you can't be wandering off. Your circuits will freeze up in this weather,' Obi-wan scolded his droid. Like R2, R4-P17 had a dome top but was a rusty brown with silver plating. The droid was less cautious than her brother and would try to roam the area that was covered in inches of snow. Her beeps were innocent as she replied to the Jedi, and through the blowing winds, R4 begged the man to let her scope out the area for the party.

'I don't care that you're curious. If you're found in an ice cube, we won't be etching you out,' Obi-wan said with a shake of his head. R4 made a sad beep before rolling into the cave where the ice was flat for her wheels to glide over. Watching his droid leave, Obi-wan looked to Sol who continued to bounce around restlessly.

'Do you need another layer?' he questioned.

'No. I just need to get out of this wind,' she replied with a huff of icy mist. Obi-wan was also contained by a large coat and a scarf that was tucked under his collar. With his hood down, the Master's head was bare to the wind that nipped and chilled to the bone. Sol couldn't understand how he could stand the cold and thought how silly she was thinking that Coruscant was dreary during the winter.

Sol was thankful when Captain Des' call for the completion of the base came out from the cave. She hurried inside with Obi-wan close behind and sighed as she took a seat on a stool in the make-shift hanger. The cave was large enough to hover the ships into its hold and the ice had been salted to ensure the 336th legion didn't spend hours sliding around on the slippery surface.

Obi-wan's interceptor was being maintained by a clone that had offered to look into a high-pitched ring that began to sound from its engines. Sol claimed the stool that was used by the mechanic clone, and she let out a sigh of relief at the easing of her leg muscles. She never realised how much a cold wind could eat away at the limbs when exposed for too long.

'You're certainly not built for this weather,' Obi-wan chuckled as Sol threw off her hood.

'Is anyone?'

'Some more than others.'

Clones passed as they began their routines throughout the base. R4 had been pulled into the operations room for her satellite usage and the Jedi were temporarily left alone. They would be required to look at the maps that had been made of the planet, but the rest of the current day was free for them to make some reports to send back to the temple on Coruscant.